We live in an age where the subject of Evolution brings about heated debate.  There are those who believe it to be the true orgin of man while others believe it to be part of an anti-religious conspiracy.  Few forms of entertainment would dare touch upon subject matter this sensitive.  In 1993 however, Enix (long before merging with Square) would release a game that would not only take on this subject matter, but also made it fun by incorporating it into the gameplay.

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These days, we don’t hold Electronic Arts with very high regard. They eat up smaller game developers and rehash thier key franchises year after year. Besides thier sports games, Battlefield games, and Def Jam fighters, there isn’t a whole lot to expect from EA. However, during the 16 bit days, they released some fairly awesome stuff, particulary on the Sega Genesis. Who can forget such underrated gems like Desert Strike, Road Rash, and Mutant League Football?

Last fall, EA released this surprising collection of 14 games from their past. Most of these games are based off the SNES and Genesis ports instead of the original PC games (I.E Ultima and Wing Commander), but they still manage to hold up fairly well. The presentation is bare-bones compared to other classic gaming collections, but you can save anywhere mid-game, view tips and hints about each game, and unlock artwork and other features. I’m a huge sucker for classic gaming compilations, this one included. If you own a PSP and want to get a glimpse of what EA was like before pumping out Madden each year, then grab this disc. EA might not have been Capcom, but they still made some solid titles.

Because we can never have enough animated series starring Spider-Man, Kids’ WB! has just announced a brand new Spidey cartoon, tentatively named The Amazing Spider-Man, set to debut in early 2008.

So far we have Greg Weisman as supervising producer – whose previous credits include Gargoyles, one episode of Ben 10, one episode of The Batman, one episode of Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, one – you know, you get the idea (don’t forget one episode of Jem!) – and we also have Victor Cook as producer/supervising director – whose recent credits include Hellboy Animated: Blood and Iron, W.I.T.C.H., and various episodes of Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, and Buzz Lightyear. Hurrah for Disney?

The show will feature a 16-year-old Peter Parker, so I imagine this will be a ground-up telling of his story, much like the Ultimate books. In fact, if they’re smart, they’ll make Ultimate Spider-Man the series bible. I hear that book sells pretty well.

We’ll keep you updated with more news as it trickles in!

Newsarama has an interview up with Marvel’s Mark Millar addressing questions about the recent event Civil War. Toward the end of the interview he unloaded quite a shock…

NRAMA: Finally, before we let you go, what is interesting you/what are you working on outside the realm of comic book publishing?

MM: Like all my pals, the TV and movie people have come calling and even the computer game people (which is weird because games are for pedos and I have no interest).

Uh, what the hell is that supposed to mean, Mark? Are you a little bitter that video games have taken such a massive chunk of revenue out of your target audience?
If he dislikes games thats one thing, but this is kind of insane and I hope he didn’t mean that.

Death is but a doorway, time is but a window.

Witness some of the most violent and gruesome deaths the 8-bit world had to offer.

Dr. Strange: The Oath #5 (of 5)
written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Marcos Martin

This book clearly illustrates why Brian K. Vaughan is one of comics’ top writers today, and why it’s an absolute travesty that he’s going to be writing creator-owned stuff solely from now on. Dr. Strange is often criticised for being too powerful of a character. He waves his hands, and the problem is solved immediately. There’s no limit to what he can do, and so there’s no situation where he’s ever in real danger. Brian K. Vaughan not only slaps these misconceptions in the face, he also goes on to make you excited and eager to read about the guy’s exploits.

In this book, Wong is dying of cancer, and Dr. Strange went to great lengths to find a cure – but then the cure was stolen by a sorcerer who works at a pharmaceutical company who can’t afford for their business to be ruined. Throughout, one of the more surprising aspects that Vaughan has explored is Dr. Strange’s ruined hands – Strange got into sorcery because his hands were mangled in a car accident, putting an end to his days as a surgeon. Another side effect of mangled hands: It’s quite difficult to shoot the giant eye of a giant demonic being strangling your friends – even if it’s Hitler’s gun, which you stole from your enemy – when your fingers are unsteady and crooked. Oh, and Night Nurse has been hanging out with them the whole time which, I promise you, is pretty awesome and brilliant in itself.

What Vaughan does is take the core components of the character – previously a doctor, has ruined hands, now practices sorcery – and celebrates them in the midst of a compelling and exciting story. I’ve never read a Dr. Strange story that equals this one, and if you’ve got any sense whatsoever, you’ll scoop up all 5 issues of this mini when you hit the shop tomorrow.

CBR is reporting on a new series featuring independently owned creations – from Savage Dragon to Shi to Madman to Cerebus – called “War of the Independents.” A cursory glance at the accompanying image tells me … well, it tells me there’s going to be dozens of characters I don’t recognize. Is that Captain Canuck in there?

The inspiration comes from artist Dave Ryan, who explains that having just survived Infinite Crisis and Civil War, he figured he’d never seen a similar sort of story featuring independent characters. The story he has planned is going to focus on “the villains Kain and Orcus trying to create a reverse tower of Babel to open the gates of Hell and destroy the Earth.” Not a terribly well-thought out plan, if you ask me – where will they live then? The moon?

As for when we can expect to see this, according the article, these villains are going to be introduced in Ryan’s Penance book in March 2008. So we may not be seeing this for a while, unless that ’08 was a typo for ’07. In the meantime, I’ll just oscillate between being worried and excited about seeing another potential train-wreck of a crossover.

I’ve never considered myself a Trekkie, only because a Trekkie would chuckle at my lack of basic knowledge of Starfleet. I am a casual fan though, and so I’m able to quite enjoy former Star Trek: The Next Generation star Wil Wheaton’s look back at the show.

Wheaton’s talks enthusiastically about his part on the show as an actor and also as a fan of Star Trek. He’s also pretty frank about being disliked by Trekkies, and slyly points out how corny the macguffins in the ST:TNG were.

Read on for Wil’s thoughts on Fairpoint, Ferengi, and sexy time on the Tsiolkovsky.